School Thanked For Helping City Group

SIMSBURY — Just about every Friday for the past 10 years, students at Tootin' Hills School have prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for at-risk youths in Hartford.

Wednesday night, Brother Marcus Turcotte, executive director of Youth Living Under Severe Stress, went to Tootin' Hills to tell parents and students about the work of his nonprofit organization and to thank them for the help they have offered the children at his church.

Turcotte, a pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in the Frog Hollow section of Hartford, has worked with at-risk youths in the city for a decade, helping young survivors of abuse and trauma.

The food exchange was started at Tootin' Hills by the efforts of parents such as Mary Hashmi, who wanted to expose Simsbury children to their peers in less affluent parts of the Hartford region.

``We're trying to create a program to help our kids realize they're pretty lucky,'' Hashmi said.

The school estimates it has made 5,300 sandwiches each year, using more than 200 pounds each of peanut butter and jelly, for the children at Immaculate Conception Church.

Turcotte started the youth organization eight years ago, after working with youths at the church and realizing the need to help abused children succeed in the world around them.

The organization assists more than 80 youths between ages 6 and 18 and operates a safe house in Bloomfield for children who have no other place to go.

Turcotte said the work of Tootin' Hills, which also provides the church with canned goods, clothing and other items, sends a valuable message to those in need.

He said the donations help the youths and their families realize ``there's somebody out there, another child, who thinks about them.''